If you gathered 100 family members, friends and neighbors in a room and asked them if 2017 was a good year, how many would raise their hand?

We live in a nation that is unusually divided politically and culturally this New Year's.

About 60 percent of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, according to Real Clear Politics, the Chicago-based aggregator of political news and polling data. And that's nothing new. The majority of Americans have believed that since 2009.

With a president who has shown a propensity to use Twitter to plunge headlong into any divisive cultural issue, and as Russian internet trolls try to hasten internal U.S. turmoil, it is unlikely 2018 will be a joyful affair when it comes to the public sphere.

That will be especially true on social media, where people are much more willing to export venom and vitriol they would never express in person.

Russians aren't the only ones who have weaponized Facebook and Twitter. We have been doing it to each other for years. And it seems it's only getting worse.

Vitriolic social media posts help feed the divisions that made 2017 a year to forget for so many.(Photo: Patrick Lux/Getty Images)

Whether it's your old baseball coach, a co-worker or your own parents, it's likely you have shaken your head in horror at the venom behind an online attack, most often tied to politics.

If the words weren't staring back at you in black and white, you probably wouldn't believe it. Someone you respect who would never consider confronting another in real life with the language they gleefully spew online suddenly morphs into a spiteful little child.

All the values and beliefs that they learned over their life -- and most likely taught to their own family members -- fly out the window over empty arguments about tweets, e-mails, kneeling and uranium.

GET INSPIRED: Delawareans who set a great example

No positions are changed from these electric exchanges. But something does change -- a piece of us.

Afterward, you might feel like you just had two Big Macs, two Filet-O Fish sandwiches and a large chocolate shake for dinner. It felt satisfying as you were doing it, but now you're left with a grotesque aftermath and swirling feelings of anger and shame.

Delaware's most high-profile keyboard warrior of 2017 came in the form of New Castle City Councilman John Di Mondi, who ran to be president of council.

As the race heated up, attention turned to his Facebook feed, where he was not above fat-shaming a woman, calling those who disagree with him "cupcake" and targeting people's religious beliefs and sexual orientations.

He was trounced by Linda Ratchford, who beat him by 30 percentage points.

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New Castle City Councilman John Di Mondi saw his vitriolic Facebook posts become a campaign issue in 2017 when he ran for president of the council. He lost by 30 points.(Photo: KYLE GRANTHAM/THE NEWS JOURNAL)

While that kind of talk might work for some Delawareans on social media, when it comes to the ballot box, the Delaware Way almost always prevails.

Also this year, we were reminded how social media beefs don't always stop with the click of a keyboard.

The News Journal's September series detailing gun violence in Wilmington highlighted the role social media can play, especially in shootings involving teens.

The newspaper partnered with USA TODAY and the Associated Press to analyze shooting statistics and revealed that Wilmington far and away leads the country in its rate of shootings among young people under 18.

"Arguments start on Facebook and Twitter between young people age 12 to 17 and are frequently settled with guns. They are targeted for seemingly innocuous insults on social media about a girl, a family member or a pair of sneakers. One shooting often begets another and another," the report read.

In short, words matter, as many have tried to remind our Tweeter-in-Chief.

While citizens have little control over the issues or conflicts that politicians are pushing for personal and professional gain, we do have control over our own behavior. And we alone are responsible for our actions.

How can 2018 be better than 2017? Put a muzzle on your worst online self.(Photo: LOIC VENANCE/Getty Images)

No matter what Washington, D.C.'s powerful elite or the swamp of partisan media outlets whip up to help fan the flames of division, we should not take the bait.

Perhaps you shouldn't retweet 25 straight venom-filled articles about every perceived transgression by President Trump or demean his supporters by calling them irredeemable.

And when it comes to lambasting "snowflakes" (a term for extreme liberals) and being purposefully disgusting online to liberals, especially women and minorities, maybe take a moment to sit and think about where all this anger is coming from and consider, "Is this who I want to be?"

No matter your political persuasion, envision a scenario where you're the victim of a hack and everything you have written on social media was cataloged and released for all the world to see.

Every hateful word. Every vindictive line. Every slur or threat. What would your grandmother think?

For a New Year's resolution, try the Grandma Test the next time you're about to unleash your frustrations on online. You just might think twice about revealing your ugliest side.

The political and media noise will only get louder in 2018, but we don't have to be the ones holding the megaphone.

So the next time steam is shooting from your ears while hunched over your keyboard, lean toward love, compassion and empathy instead of hate, animosity and contempt.

While jailed in Georgia in 1962, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "...love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."

And just like back then, it works even if the "enemy" is your own countryman.